Understanding Aging

Do you know why we age?  

What causes our body to break down. 

Why brain fog, aches and pains, stomach and other health issues start to settle in over time.

Have you ever thought about it….  

Or are you like me?

I never thought about it until my body stopped working, which impacted my life and joy every day….  

This one thing changed my life...  Understanding why and how we age.

“Aging Is is not a mystery” -Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Leading geneticist Cambridge

Really?

Aging becomes simple when we take a journey inside of our body and understand how it works every day to keep us healthy, no matter what we do to it.  It is a miracle that begins inside of every cell.  The fact is our body is made up of trillions of cells, brilliantly designed to manage important tasks but also repair, restore and rejuvenate our health every day.  

“Aging is simply the accumulation of damage in our cells” Dr. DeGrey.

The more damage the older we are. Seems pretty simple.  More damage, more dis-ease in the cell, more age.  But what is it that causes that damage? 

“The biggest cause of damage in our cells is the air we breathe. Oxygen”  

Really!  Oxygen, the air we breathe, is damaging our cells every day!  No matter how well we eat, sleep, exercise...we are breathing oxygen and creating oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress, in essence, is like the accumulation of rust on a car. Through the years of wear and tear, rust slowly begins to show. First a little here, then a little there. Eventually, the damage destroys how the car looks and performs.

Your cells act in a similar way. Researchers found early on that as you age, you begin to accumulate free radicals and other oxidants. This can come from pollutants in the air you breathe, the food you eat, your own metabolism, and even the simple act of living in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The very act of living and interacting day to day introduces these free radicals and toxins into your bodies. If left unchecked, this can impact cell health and function. This is oxidative stress, the damage to our cells and the aging process.

Amazingly, your body has the ability to fight oxidants and free radicals. It’s encoded directly into your DNA and more specifically your genes. These antioxidant and detoxification enzymes, however, need to be turned on in order to do their job. One of the proteins responsible for turning genes on is a messenger called Nrf2. 

Next week, we will learn about Nrf2